Instructor Training Facilities

AUSTRALIA'S LEADING FREEDIVING SCHOOL

Established in 2010 by former world record holder and Apnea International instructor trainer Erez Beatus, Apnea Australia is Australia's leading freediving school. With more than 16 instructors in all major cities, we offer quality freedive education for all levels of training.

Courses on offer:

B4s

Stage A

Stage B

Stage C

Instructor

SkinDiver

LOVED IT

" I want to thank you for making the Apnea Australia's Stage A Course available in WA. I cannot articulate the full extent to which I enjoyed it. I can say without reservation that it was one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. Thanks to your expertise on the course, I continue to learn more about myself each day - as a diver and in general."

... It is what we do, and it is what we will be doing with no end in sight.

We chose the name We Freedive because it describes just that and it is a statement that all freedivers will understand as more than just describing an action. Freediving is a sport, a mindset and an approach to rest-of-life.

In 2008, when there were only Freediving Courses, We realised that we didn't want to teach courses, but Students and introduced the term Quality Freediving Education as a clear sign that our goal was not mere certification of as many students as possible, but that We Freedive exists for the learning, understanding and skill development of our students.

Instructor Trainers

“My greatest passion has always been the water. I’ve dedicated my life to exploring new ways of being in water and sharing my knowledge with others including swimming, diving, fishing, underwater hockey,meditation and aquatic therapies.

I started Freediving when I was 8 years old while spearfishing with my brother… and began holding my breath for fun since I was 4. I’m currently based on the Gold Coast in Queensland and continue to teach and explore new waters around the globe.”

World Champion Freediver Erez Beatus established Apnea Australia in order to expand this growing sport throughout Australia.

Erez’s accomplishments include:Founder of Apnea Internationl (AI).

Established the Israeli Freediving team in 1998, coached and captained the team in four world championships.

In 2001 held the CNF (constant weights without fins) world record along with Trevor Hutton from South Africa.

Richard comes from a background in the sciences. He applied his studies of the life sciences and a degree in Information Engineering in his work in pharmaceutical research and development. This career was traded in for a life as a full time freediver and educator, which includes his participation on the German team in the Freediving World Championships 2008. After his brief look into competitions, he co-founded We Freedive together with Sarah Whitcher. His influences on education paradigms, contents and curricula are infused in freediving education worldwide.

Richard has been certified to instructor level by multiple agencies, most notably by Umberto Pelizzari of the Apnea Academy, AIDA International and recently Apnea International, Active as an Instructor Trainer for both AIDA and Apnea International. We Freedive planted the seed of Freediving in many countries in South-East Asia.

A strong background in the life sciences, information and communication, and years of experience in Freediving education and -competition, all are a part of the expertise he has been adding to educational systems and organisations throughout the years.

Sarah had been working as a Swimming Instructor and Personal Trainer for well more than half her life – teaching swimming to students of all ages and coaching professional athletes. After she took her first freediving course, she quickly decided to become an instructor and focus her considerable skills on the underwater world.

Having practised Yoga and worked in the fitness industry she found herself right at home in the world of freediving. Since 2008, Sarah is a professional freediver, known for her excellent coaching skills and comprehensive teaching experience. Sarah is perfectly at home in the water and has an ability to project her love and enthusiasm for freediving that both encourages and motivates her students.

After offering her expertise to AIDA for years, she is now using her extensive background in an advisory position with Apnea International.

Lewis pretty much grew up in the water, originally from the Bay of Islands in the North Island of New Zealand. Having lived in Australia for the last 5 years Lewis now calls Brisbane home. Starting off his career under water as a PADI Scuba instructor, Lewis saw the light in 2011 when out of curiosity he enrolled in an Apnea Australia Stage A course run by Bjorn. That as they say was that, and Lewis was instantly hooked on freediving and the extra challenge it presents compared to scuba. Lewis soon decided to focus on freediving rather than scuba and theres an old dusty BCD and regs under his house somewhere collecting dust and feeling very unloved.

Soon after completing the Stage A Lewis began training with the Brisbane Freedivers Club, went on to do Stage B and in 2012 completed Stage C , trained in Tonga with Erez and completed instructor training. Lewis started teaching freediving towards the end of 2012, has taught courses all over Queensland and assisted Erez teaching and coaching in Tonga. Lewis gets a huge buzz from teaching both new freedivers and working with more experienced athletes. Lewis teaches Stage A and Stage B courses and hopes to soon undertake further training with Erez to become a Stage C and Apnea Australia Instructor Trainer.

Lewis is also a keen competitive freediver , having taken part in competitions both in Australia and overseas winning the Australian national championship in June 2014.

Lewis is also involved in the organisation of freediving in Australia being the Clubs Officer for the Australian Freediving Association and the Safety and Inductions officer for the Brisbane Freediving Club. Lewis enjoys taking part in media projects relating to freediving and has taken part in a BBC documentary and news paper articles.

When he’s not in the water Lewis has a creative streak and works as a graphic designer in the signage industry. He also designed the current Apnea Australia logo and branding.

Instructors - Australia / New Zealand

"Water was always my passion. I stated enjoying it being a sailor. Initially in Russia, then studied and sailed in Greece and France, then went to Sydney. After doing a season of Twilight Races with CYCA I suddenly realised that being on top of the water is not that much fun and I really would like to explore the hidden secrets of underwater world.

Freediving is like hiking around National park, but with the ability to fly as your buoyancy becomes your gravity and you can fly freely enjoying untouched beautiful and fascinating world that is hidden from most of the people. Only thing you need to do is to unlock your mind(with training and courses) and believe that you can dive to 20m and deeper without any extra equipment.

You can guess that my favorite movies are Deep Blue, Deep Sea Challenger and Avantyuristy.

Bjorn Nielsen Has been holding his breath for longer than he can remember starting out with getting his father to count how long he could hold his breath for in the bath.

From that point until now he has never really left the water. Since 2000 Bjorn has been actively breath hold diving all over Australia from the coast of western Australia, to Victoria and Queensland. He began dedicating his time to Freediving 3 years ago and has devoted most of his time to training and promoting the sport of Freediving throughout Australia ever since.

Bjorn Has Dived around the World with recent trips to the Blue Hole in Dahab Egypt and the Mediterranean sea off the Island of Crete.

Accomplishments include:

National Record in UFC

AIDA international Level Judge

AIDA Australia Technical Officer

Sits on the AIDA Australia Board

Co-organised Australia’s first National Depth Championships

Bachelor Of Science (Aquatic Science)

Certified Apnea Australia Instructor

Founder of 1 Breath Freediving

The water has always been my refuge. When I’m in the water nothing else matters, its the perfect mixture of excitement and calm. My aim is to help others experience what Freediving can give which no other sport can. Freediving has become much more than a sport, its become a way of life.

“I currently reside in Cairns North Queensland and teach courses in the calm, cool waters of the tablelands Crater lakes or the crystal clear waters of the Great Barrier reef.”

David started snorkelling around the same time as surfing at the age of 14 and has a love of and being in and around the Ocean, also generally keeping fit.

This love of water and being active has led David to becoming an Instructor for Apnea Australia, Surfing clinics and competitions, Yoga, Pilates, Stand up Paddle Boarding, Mountain Biking, Surfing, Boating, Fishing and Swimming.

This has led to Diving and expeditions to Koh Tao Thailand, Lombok, Bali, Kuala Lumpur, New Zealand, Vanuatu, Tonga, South Africa, Maldives, Mentawai Islands, Cocos Islands, US, Canada, parts of Australia and Western Australia extensively.

David has taught many Stage A courses in WA for Apnea Australia and has trained extensively with master instructor Erez Beatus in Australia, Vanuata and Tonga and has spent some time with Apnea Total in Koh Tao.

“My greatest passion has always been the water. I’ve dedicated my life to exploring new ways of being in water and sharing my knowledge with others including swimming, diving, fishing, underwater hockey,meditation and aquatic therapies.

I started Freediving when I was 8 years old while spearfishing with my brother… and began holding my breath for fun since I was 4. I’m currently based on the Gold Coast in Queensland and continue to teach and explore new waters around the globe.”

World Champion Freediver Erez Beatus established Apnea Australia in order to expand this growing sport throughout Australia.

Erez’s accomplishments include:Founder of Apnea Internationl (AI).

Established the Israeli Freediving team in 1998, coached and captained the team in four world championships.

In 2001 held the CNF (constant weights without fins) world record along with Trevor Hutton from South Africa.

Despite my parents repeated attempts at swim squads and nippers i never found any interest in swimming on the surface, preferring to sink to the bottom of the sea and pushing along the sand much to the annoyance of my teacher. After being introduced to the underwater world through snorkeling i was immediately hooked and spent many summers exploring reefs across Sydney’s northern beaches.

This eventually led onto spearfishing in my teens and then to a career in SCUBA as a means of getting the most i could out of the ocean, having earned my instructor ticket i used it to travel through south-east Asia and was immersed in some of the planets most biologically diverse environments.

During my travels i crossed paths with a few freedivers and after a few days of practice decided to ditch the tanks and get back to my roots. Returning to Sydney in 2010 i soon joined up with the Sydney freedivers club and began my training , starting from rock hard plastic fins, boardies and not much of a breath hold then to now years later competing at an international level and coaching the next generation of freedivers at the club.

I love freediving for the connection you build with the ocean and its creatures, the pure silence of the deep ocean and to challenge myself in ways i could never imagine.

My affinity with the ocean began as far back as I can remember, from mucking around in the surf as a kid, boating with the old man, surfing and throwing out a line. It wasn’t long before I put on a mask and snorkel to jump over the side of the boat to see what was going on underneath the surface.

I took up scuba diving and I guess it was at this point where I got a true perspective of the underwater world and was really hooked. It just wasn’t enough. I wanted more of a challenge, so I ditched the tanks and so began my new life as a freediver and haven’t looked back since.

Freediving and Spearfishing for me is more than just a hobby, it is a way of life. When I’m not in the water, I’m thinking about it, looking at weather forecasts and planning the next adventure.

Lewis pretty much grew up in the water, originally from the Bay of Islands in the North Island of New Zealand. Having lived in Australia for the last 5 years Lewis now calls Brisbane home. Starting off his career under water as a PADI Scuba instructor, Lewis saw the light in 2011 when out of curiosity he enrolled in an Apnea Australia Stage A course run by Bjorn. That as they say was that, and Lewis was instantly hooked on freediving and the extra challenge it presents compared to scuba. Lewis soon decided to focus on freediving rather than scuba and theres an old dusty BCD and regs under his house somewhere collecting dust and feeling very unloved.

Soon after completing the Stage A Lewis began training with the Brisbane Freedivers Club, went on to do Stage B and in 2012 completed Stage C , trained in Tonga with Erez and completed instructor training. Lewis started teaching freediving towards the end of 2012, has taught courses all over Queensland and assisted Erez teaching and coaching in Tonga. Lewis gets a huge buzz from teaching both new freedivers and working with more experienced athletes. Lewis teaches Stage A and Stage B courses and hopes to soon undertake further training with Erez to become a Stage C and Apnea Australia Instructor Trainer.

Lewis is also a keen competitive freediver , having taken part in competitions both in Australia and overseas winning the Australian national championship in June 2014.

Lewis is also involved in the organisation of freediving in Australia being the Clubs Officer for the Australian Freediving Association and the Safety and Inductions officer for the Brisbane Freediving Club. Lewis enjoys taking part in media projects relating to freediving and has taken part in a BBC documentary and news paper articles.

When he’s not in the water Lewis has a creative streak and works as a graphic designer in the signage industry. He also designed the current Apnea Australia logo and branding.

I’m an Apnea International Freediving Instructor. Originally from Slovakia, I’ve spent my entire life in and around water - as a competitive swimmer, surf lifesaver, swimming instructor, lifeguard and scuba diver. I haven’t used a scuba tank since I developed a serious passion for the single-breath sport of freediving 10 years ago.

I'm a proud mum of 3 ocean loving kids. My aim is to live life to the fullest, challenge myself in life and in business and have a positive impact on the world we live in.

I have always had something to do with water whether it be surfing, spearfishing or freediving. Life without the water for me wouldn’t be much of a life at all.I started surfing and spearfishing on the mid north coast of NSW from a young age and spent just about everyday at the beach up untill the age of 22 where I made the move to north queensland to work in a spearfishing, freediving and scuba diving shop called Diversworld.I have been a very keen spearo from the age of 14 and since making the move to north queensland I have gained allot of knowledge and experience from the many spearo’s I have dived with. I also picked up a spearfishing sponsorship along the way.Since meeting Erez three years ago, Bjorn and myself got the bug for freediving. Ever since then we have trained in Static, Dynamic and Depth.I competed in the first Australian pool and depth competition in Cairns and managed to bag second place.After doing the stages A, B and C courses with Erez I have continued on to the next level and become Freediving instructor. For me my main goal becoming an instructor is to educate people on how to Freedive and Spearfish as safe as possible without loosing the fun aspect. If i can save one person’s life in my whole teaching career then it will be all worth it.

Royce has always had a passion for the ocean, it begun as soon as he was born going to Rottnest Island every weekend on the family boat.

He became a PADI open water scuba diver at 14 and after doing his Rescue diver course at 19, discovered freediving. Since beginning freediving he has devoted himself to it entirely.

Royce’s main underwater passion is spearfishing, he has speared majoirty of the West Australian coast as well as overseas in places such as Tonga, Vanuatu, New Zealand, Indonesia and Hawaii.

His other passions include underwater photography, particularly of marine mammals and prized spearfishing species, yoga and ocean conservation. Having graduated UWA as an Environmental Engineer with a major in Ocean systems, Royce has a huge passion for conservation and says he finds freediving an unbelievably amazing way to experience the ocean and interact with marine life.

As I braced myself in the bow of my Grandfather’s dingy, salt spray dripped from my 7 year old chin. We cleared the surf and the beach receded into the distance. This was to feel truly alive! Growing up in Fremantle; the Indian Ocean, Rottnest Island and the Swan River have always felt like home. School holidays were a chance to hand-spear a meal or snatch a crab.

Scuba diving came next and the pursuit of a career. I spent time in the Army and then obtained a Post Graduate Degree in Ecologically Sustainable Development.

Six years ago I started Freediving. Progressively Freediving became a way of life. Never had life been so vibrant and satisfying.

I wanted to share this with others. Teaching people to Freedive is rewarding beyond measure.

My specific areas of interest include;

Meditation / Yoga.

Underwater videography.

Freediving as a stress management tool for military veterans.

Whale Encounter Expeditions.

Sustainable spearfishing.

Freediving product development and manufacture.

To be of maximum service to students, I’m studying to qualify as an Expedition Paramedic.

Almost having drowned when he was 6 years old Simon has gone on to show many thousands of spearfishers on how to improve their approach to spearfishing including National and State Champions, Simon brings 40 years of spearfishing knowledge to his classes. Simon is at home in the water whether it be catching crayfish by hand in the shallows or pursuing pelagics in the open water.

A champion for spearfishers safety and their rights to fish, Simon has represented spearfishers in their right to dive along the east coast, and was a key person in establishing truer Grey Nurse Shark numbers, and habitat sites in NSW; has run countless workshops on ethical and safe spearfishing presenting to fishing clubs, cultural groups and schools and many Expo’s; co-ordinated the peer acclaimed “Don’t put your life on the line” Spearfishing DVD with over 30,000 distributed and over 800000 views on YouTube; Simon was one of the creators of the National award winning USFA Handbook for Spearfishing again featuring safety and ethics; the innovator of the “One Up One Down” safety message seen nationally; started the first safe “pairs” spearfishing events in NSW; played a key role in the “look out Diver about” prop strike safety campaign by NSW RMS; has written over fifty published articles based on his spearfishing experiences, opinions, spearfishing values, ethics, safety awareness, the spearfishers rights to fish and how it all should be managed. He has received acknowledgement from NSW Fisheries for his efforts.

Simon has been accredited with Erez since 2007 and has taught hundreds of students during this time with his partner in the training Andrew Harvey who both really believe in the buddy system of diving as well as focussing on proper breathing and relaxation techniques divulging decades of knowledge in hunting techniques and water skills during the course to their students. Simon keeps the Spearfishing workshops entertaining and with any luck by the end of the course you are going home with dinner you landed yourself.

Thanks again for all your time and effort put into not only the course you are running but also the industry in general. Andrew and yourself are single handedly changing the perception on spearfishing in Australia and that is commendable. For me the course was well worth it and will have no hesitation in recommending it to others in the future.

Aaron Wilde

I have just completed the spearo course with Trippa and Andrew and what can I say accept that it was the best course I have ever completed in the water. The knowledge that is shared on breath hold technique , spearfishing , equipment and in every aspect of the sport is beyond belief. On completion of the course you are provided… and email addresses for both instructors whom want you contact them with any questions you may have about increasing your skills in the water. If anyone is serious about becoming a competent spearo do the course . Great blokes who had all the time in the world for you and wanted you to share the same obsession that they have.

Kevin comes from the deserts of Arizona. There he fell in love with rock climbing and yoga. But once in Asia discovered the beauty that are our oceans. While traveling he found a beginner freediving class and from there couldn’t get enough. Combining the peace and freedom of being in the water, with the relaxation and mindfulness of yoga, he worked towards becoming an AIDA freediving instructor with We Freedive in Phuket, Thailand. Living in Seoul he’s worked with many of the small teams to help further the burgeoning freediving community while continuing to introduce and promote freediving there.

Kevin started 1Up Freediving as the first English speaking freediving center in Seoul (though can work in Korean as well~). With a background in communication and education, teaching comes naturally to Kevin and he is able to use this to help connect and explain freediving to each student’s individual needs.

Richard comes from a background in the sciences. He applied his studies of the life sciences and a degree in Information Engineering in his work in pharmaceutical research and development. This career was traded in for a life as a full time freediver and educator, which includes his participation on the German team in the Freediving World Championships 2008. After his brief look into competitions, he co-founded We Freedive together with Sarah Whitcher. His influences on education paradigms, contents and curricula are infused in freediving education worldwide.

Richard has been certified to instructor level by multiple agencies, most notably by Umberto Pelizzari of the Apnea Academy, AIDA International and recently Apnea International, Active as an Instructor Trainer for both AIDA and Apnea International. We Freedive planted the seed of Freediving in many countries in South-East Asia.

A strong background in the life sciences, information and communication, and years of experience in Freediving education and -competition, all are a part of the expertise he has been adding to educational systems and organisations throughout the years.

Sarah had been working as a Swimming Instructor and Personal Trainer for well more than half her life – teaching swimming to students of all ages and coaching professional athletes. After she took her first freediving course, she quickly decided to become an instructor and focus her considerable skills on the underwater world.

Having practised Yoga and worked in the fitness industry she found herself right at home in the world of freediving. Since 2008, Sarah is a professional freediver, known for her excellent coaching skills and comprehensive teaching experience. Sarah is perfectly at home in the water and has an ability to project her love and enthusiasm for freediving that both encourages and motivates her students.

After offering her expertise to AIDA for years, she is now using her extensive background in an advisory position with Apnea International.